Article IV. Other Requirements for the Degree

Article IV. OTHER REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE

In addition to departmental/program requirements for the degree or certificate, all graduate students must demonstrate competency in the English language and pay all degree fees. All graduate students must participate satisfactorily in the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) workshop as well as the CITI online RCR module. No one is exempt from this requirement.

Section 1. English Competency and Expository Writing

The Expository Writing Program helps facilitate students’ mastery of the conventions and expectations of graduate-level academic writing. The Expository Writing Program was established in 1976 as a diagnostic and teaching vehicle for implementing the Board of Trustees' mandate that all students in the Graduate School demonstrate proficiency in academic writing as a prerequisite for admission to candidacy for the master's or doctoral degree. From 1976 to spring 2016, the program, under the auspices of the Graduate School, administered the Expository Writing Examination. The Graduate School continues to maintain the responsibility for ensuring students’ writing proficiency through the Expository Writing Program. However, the Expository Writing Examination process through which this is achieved was shifted from the Graduate School to the individual academic programs in fall 2017. Under the current model, each graduate program determines its own Expository Writing Examination methods and exemptions.

All graduate students, unless exempt, are required to satisfy the expository writing requirement prior to being advanced to candidacy. The process for satisfying this requirement is determined by the individual graduate programs. It is recommended that students fulfill this requirement during the first year of the graduate program. Students enrolled in certificate programs are exempt from this requirement.

Successful completion of the Expository Writing Examination remains valid for a period of 5 years; after 5 years, a student must either request an exemption from the Expository Writing Examination or re-engage the department’s Expository Writing Examination process. Successful completion of the Expository Writing Examination is valid for one graduate degree program; a student who completes a degree program and pursues another must either request an exemption from the Expository Writing Examination or re-engage the department’s Expository Writing Examination process. Students who have previously satisfied the Expository Writing requirement must either submit completion documents that are no more than five years old, request an exemption from the Expository Writing Examination, or re-engage the department’s Expository Writing Examination process.

The McGraw-Hill Expository Writing Course

A student who does not successfully pass the Expository Writing Examination administered by the graduate program may be referred to the coordinator of the Expository Writing Program, who will instruct the student to register for and purchase access to the online McGraw-Hill Connect Expository Writing module. This module includes the adaptive LearnSmart Achieve - Developmental Writing 3.0 module, which provides targeted instruction and adaptive, skills-based practice in content development, organization, argumentation, grammar and mechanics, and common writing difficulties experienced by multilingual writers. Once a student has completed the module, the Expository Writing Program coordinator will provide a performance report and a signed letter indicating the date of completion. The student will provide the graduate program director with copies of both documents, which may then be applied to the student’s satisfaction of the department’s expository writing requirements.

Each graduate program determines how a student’s completion of the course will apply to its expository writing requirement. For example, some programs may require only evidence of course completion, while others may require a student to re-take the Expository Writing Examination after completing the course. Additionally, the course addresses only the broad areas of concern indicated. Other writing concerns must be addressed by the graduate programs.

Students who take the course are responsible for requesting evidence of course completion from the Expository Writing Program, submitting the completion documents to their graduate program, and keeping copies of the completion documents in their own records. The Expository Writing Program is not responsible for keeping records of course completion documents after they have been provided to the student.

Exemption from the Expository Writing Examination

A student may request to be declared exempt from taking the Expository Writing Examination. To request an exemption, a student must submit the Expository Writing Examination Exemption Form with at least one qualifying document. Students may submit additional qualifying documents to support the exemption request.

Qualifying Documents:

 A previously submitted dissertation or master’s thesis: Student must submit a signed copy of the dissertation or thesis and an official copy of the transcript showing completion of the degree.

 A published article in a refereed academic journal: Student must submit a copy of the article, including full bibliographical information. Qualifying articles must have undergone a peer-review process, and verification of peer-review may be requested by the Expository Writing Program. Articles written for newspapers, newsletters, magazines, or other non-refereed publications will not suffice as qualifying documents.

 A major professional report: Student must submit a copy of a robust, detailed report written for an employer. Suitability of the report will be determined by the student’s Director of Graduate Studies. Reports that show no clear evidence of authorship and/or students’ specific contributions will not suffice as qualifying documents.

 GRE Analytical Writing Assessment: Students must score a 5 or above and submit a copy of the official ETS Score Report.

The exemption request must be approved and signed by the student’s Director of Graduate Studies, who will then forward the student’s request to the Expository Writing Program for review. If the exemption is approved, students will be notified by the Expository Writing Program coordinator via email.

Section 2. Responsible Conduct of Research

The Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) Workshop is intended to provide students with information on pertinent federal and University guidelines and regulations pertaining to the responsible conduct of research as well as to instruct them in a method of utilizing moral reasoning skills in responding to ethical dilemmas in research. Workshop topics include intellectual property, data sharing, and understanding of Institutional Review Board (IRB) policies and procedures, data acquisition and management, and mentoring. The RCR training workshop is a requirement for admission to candidacy. To receive the RCR certificate, students must complete all required training sessions/modules throughout the semester enrolled for the training and successfully complete a learning assessment exercise at the end of the academic semester. In addition, all students are responsible for completing and passing the on-line CITI Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) module. Both RCR workshop certificate and the CITI RCR module certificate are required for advancement to candidacy.

Section 3. Academic Time Limits

All requirements for the doctoral degree must be completed within seven (7) years, and five (5) years for students completing a stand-alone master’s program. The time starts from the date a student first matriculate into a master’s or doctoral degree program in the Graduate School. The

time limit applies to all graduate programs in the Graduate School, even cases where a student is pursuing a master's degree enroute to the doctorate. This clock does not stop for any time a student is not enrolled except for students who have been approved for an emergency leave. A student who exceeds the time limit without an approved extension will be dismissed from the Graduate School for failure to maintain adequate academic progress. Students who are in year 7+ (doctoral students) or 5+ years (master’s students) who do not apply for an extended time or are not approved for extension of time, a dean’s hold will be put on registration. Approval of the extension of time is needed to remove the registration block and continue in the program.

Section 4. Off-Campus Research

Typically, thesis and dissertation research are performed at Howard University especially relative to stem-based programs. In some cases, the University may not own appropriate, specialized equipment or facilities. If a student has an interest in pursuing research in a research lab outside of the University, a written request must be given to the Chair of the Graduate Program for review and approval for conducting off-campus research. The following provisions must be met:

1. Students must obtain the written consent of their thesis or dissertation adviser, in some circumstances full research committee, and department chair before engaging in off-campus research.
2. The student must submit a written plan for the research effort to graduate program for approval. The plan should include a discussion of the problem and intended scope of the investigation and should be structured in terms of a specific time frame.
3. A formal and signed statement of approval from the organization where research will be conducted must be submitted to the department chair and the Dean of the Graduate School prior to the student entering the outside lab.
4. A Students’ plan to complete thesis or dissertation research using the organization's equipment and facilities must follow the students’ approved proposal and is filed in and monitored by the department/program. If changes are made in the research conducted, the student must immediately contact the research advisor at Howard University and the Office of Regulatory Research Compliance.
5. When appropriate, the organization's release of patent rights or copyrights arising from discoveries or concepts that evolve during the students’ master's or dissertation research.
6. Student must be enrollment at the University while the research is in progress. When research is conducted at the non-Howard facility, the research advisor, at Howard, must have full oversight of the process.
7. The researcher at the non-Howard facility must be qualified as a Graduate Research Faculty and must have a fixed faculty appointment and as such must be suitable for graduate faculty status within the academic unit housing the degree program.

8. A CV of the off-campus research supervisor must be submitted for review and recommendation to the dean of the Graduate School; and,

9. The research supervisor must update the thesis/dissertation research advisor of the students’ ongoing progress.
10. Students must have their own research approved by the Office of Regulatory Research Compliance. This includes student research performed under an approved faculty research protocol.